In order to make the curved top, I cut a piece of 1/16" basswood to the right size (measure the curve you have cut on the end pieces), soak it in very hot water, then mold it to a drinking glass, jam jar or soup can. I usually cut several at a time, bend them around a tall, straight-sided drinking glass, fasten with cord or elastic bands and set aside to dry. You can use 1/32" basswood which is a little easier to bend, however over time the trunk lid may develop an unfortunate sag in the middle.
Barbara Richmond (Canada)
16 Feb 04

I made a domed lid for a trunk by soaking the wood lid piece in hot water, and then forming it over a small paint can. I held it on with rubber bands and let it dry. The side pieces of the lid were cut with an arch to match the curve of the top part. I hope that makes sense.
Lauren in Forest Hill
16 Feb 04

To make a domed lid in its easiest form I would do the following: get a form that is round, such as a bottle, jar, or pipe, in the curvature the same as the trunk lid. Wax the curvature surface. Wet some paper and drape it over the curvature. (you can use diluted glue here). I would do a number of layers to form rigidity and then when all is dry I will remove it. Paint to look like the rest of the "trunk" and there it is.

DrBob Delray Beach, FL.
16 FEB 04

To make a domed trunk, use a small section of wood flooring for that part, preferably one with narrow boards and the paper backing will let it curve over the ends nicely. I've even used the half-scale Handley flooring successfully to make a smaller, smoother curve.
Dottie in Tucson
16 Feb 04

I used toilet paper rolls to make domed lids for treasure chests for a grandchildren's project.

I coated the cardboard rolls first with glue and let dry before cutting them in half lengthwise. Then I cut them into about three inch lengths. For the box patterns, I used paper and fiddled until I was satisfied with the dimensions, using the lid's curve as a guide for the ends of the lid.

I had a prototype for the children to look at, and to save time had the pieces already cut. However, I cut one of the rolls apart and showed them how I had made the patterns so they would know the process I had used.

We used a ruler and a non-working ballpoint pen to draw lines to suggest boards, then we gently eased the lids back into shape. Then we glued a slightly smaller piece of roll inside to help maintain the shape and make it sturdy.

Two layers of thin cardboard glued together made the bottom, ends and sides (with heavier cardboard this might not be necessary). We coated the entire chest with a mixture of light brown paint and glue first as a sealer and to unify it, then painted a second coat. We made a false bottom of bits of cardboard to fill up some of the space, and painted it with the same brown.

Strips of brown paper simulated the straps and bits from a gold paper doily served for the latches and hinges. Then we put a coat of stain over the entire thing and wiped most of it off.

The kids then glued in all kinds of odds and ends from my beads and findings stash, letting the gold chains, etc., trail over the sides. The last thing they did was sprinkle gold coins inside. Those I had made for a medieval swap using tiny punched circles and a mixture of glue and gold paint. (You can see a bag of these coins in my Anachronon the Wizard pages on my website.)

The kids were quite happy with their treasure chests, and they decided the same type of chests could also be used as Santa's toy boxes and magicians' trunks.

Wanna in El Paso

To keep parts aligned straight, just put them in the corner of a box once they are glued. Small ones work great for most of the smaller pieces of furn., etc. Or you can buy one of those metal jigs that are designed for just that.

To make a domed trunk, I found that you can use a small section of wood flooring for that part, preferably one with narrow boards and the paper backing will let it curve over the ends nicely. I've even used the half-scale Handley flooring successfully to make a smaller, smoother curve.

Dottie in Tucson
2/16/04
# 210

Cutting granitware and other metal things

The diamond coated cutting disk in this web site link will do the job for you. It's to be used on a mandrel shank in a high speed motor such as the dremel. If you own a motor tool that came with a bunch of small accessories you will have the mandrel on hand already, otherwise order one from the web site to fit it.

http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/PROD/dremel-diamond-coated-disk/BBA73

Those small holes around the perimeter of the disk act as cooling areas to keep the metal in the disk from overheating. It would be a good idea to cut a small section, wait a minute or so for the heat in the disk and in the coffee pot to dissipate and cut another small section.

Karin Corbin

2/16/04
# 210

Making movable arms and legs is fairly easy. Just remember that real people have bones. Pipe cleaners make good armatures. . . but you have to stiffen the arms and legs between joints.

First, remove the fuzz from the pipe cleaners. I found that burning them off with a cig lighter is a quick and simple method. . (do this out of doors). Hold one end with pliers and torch it off. The residue is lumpy and allows stuffing to adhere.

Determine where the arms and legs will bend. Slip cocktail straws (cut to proper length) onto limbs.
Leave a gap at the joint itself. Insert a bit of glue to hold in place. Let dry. Wrap or stuff or what ever you choose to round out the figure. Head, lower arms/hands, and feet/leg portion made of polymer clay can then be inserted easily onto the ends of the limbs.


When finished, this character will bend realistically. Body takes a larger straw, such as regular drinking straw to fit over multiple twisted pipe cleaner material.

If you don't know where your doll should bend. Look in a mirror..... BTW, elbows and knees only bend one way. I've seen some dolls that bend every which way, otherwise fine, but the odd joints jolt the belief.

Just be sure your doll has bones. . many don't and the limbs don't look real in motion. .. Illusion is all.

Judie
2/13/04
vol1 #202

Cutting Mica, embossing copper, finding inspirations #200 Karin Corbin 2/12/04


Mica can be cut with scissors or an exacto knife. Since the material is transparent just lay it over your design drawing to mark out the shape on it. The site the mica is from gives information for glues to use with it. The material can be painted on. One of the famous lamp shade makers from the arts and crafts era, Violet Agatha van Erp, the wife of Dirk van Erp, used to put paper cut out shapes between layers so there was a design showing through when the light was turned on. This could easily be done in miniature. The sheets of the mica product are layered and can be split although it is already quite thin. Information on the layering method is from the book "American Arts and Crafts, Virtue in Design" the pieces shown in this book are in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Their gift shop carries many fine books on the era as does the Gamble House Museum gift shop. A web site with ever changing photos of furniture, pottery, tiles, lamps, textiles and more from the era is www.ragoarts.com. These are high quality collectors items which come up in their auctions, general dimension measurements are given for almost all of the pieces.

You can emboss thin, annealed (softened with heat) metals over a piece of soft wood, jewellers use pitch underneath, a mousepad would work for some things but the metal might curl up and distort more than you want. Embossing through a stencil cut out makes crisp, sharp edges. You might check your local public library for books, its still a popular craft and is seeing a recent resurgence of interest due to the scrap bookers and stampers wanting thin sheets of various materials. Most generalized instruction books for jewellery making have a section on the subject. In the metal working business the embossing is referred to as "repousse", do a search with that word for more information on the subject.

If shingling is your thing, pass this up. Carpentry purists, pass this up. Anyone who loves to suffer, pass this up. This is for the "I hate to shingle" crowd. Shingling my houses has always been one of those "gotta-do" projects that don't appeal much to me. This is what I worked out for my current house: Lay out everything you are going to need in large quantities so you can work in mass production scale. First I purchased several bags of shingles, of two different types. I bought the thinnest 1/4" balsa wood strips the hobby store had in 24" length and cut them apart into 12" lengths so they were easier to handle. Using a straight very thin line of yellow carpenters glue applied to the strips I glued the shingles side by side to these strips - lots and lots and lots of strips, more than I was going to need for one house. Be very careful to keep the glue from oozing up between the shingles or the stain will not cover evenly (you don't need a lot of glue at all) and keep the shingle edges very straight and even. I let them air dry for two days and so far nothing had warped. I guestimated what I would need for my current house and stacked all the other glued strips (and there were plenty) neatly under one of my heavy finished houses so they wouldn't warp. They are ready to batch-stain for my next project. Now, this next step is easiest if you have a full gallon of stain. (You could also just drizzle the stain from a foam brush onto the strips over a container so you could re-use the run off.) I just very quickly dipped some of the lengths of glued shingles into the stain, as far as they would go, and then turned them and dipped whatever on the other side that hadn't fit into the can the first time. Just in and out, because the wood will stain the second it touches the liquid and it doesn't need to soak in the stain (that really might warp the shingles). Then I laid the strips onto old rags and a gave them a quick wipe with another rag and then allowed them to air dry for a couple days. Good tip from Jim Collins' site -- be sure to paint your roof first whatever color you are shingling, so if there are gaps in the shingles they won't show. When it was time to shingle, I just measured and snipped (with plain thin scissors) the length I needed and glued. I came pretty close on the shingles I needed, but had enough left over in the golden oak color I was using to make a dog house and shingle that. The roof looked super and it took me 1/5 of the application time of my last house. Now, these shingle strips are available to purchase, as well as roofing rolls, etc, but I saved a significant amount of money do-it-myselfing. (Money better spent on Fimo and books and gorgeous mini fabric and teaching myself to mini-crochet.) All in all, including 90 minutes to go to town to purchase supplies, setting up the special work area and then doing the project, it probably took me about 8 hours total of actual work time, and I have enough strips to do another four, possibly five houses.

Linney -- in Northeastern Wisconsin
30 Jan 2004